They are well-trained and their excellent skills will be tested in duties with the task force, Brimob chief Insp.Gen.Anang Revandoko said.
Like other personnel of the Nemangkawi Task Force, Brimob's women officers will also protect Papua from security threats posed by armed Papuan groups, he added.
"They will also coordinate with their counterparts from the Indonesian Military (TNI)," he was quoted as saying on @sekolah_kedinasan Instagram account here on Friday.
The six women police officers' involvement in a challenging "humanitarian operation" in Papua is an extraordinary event, he remarked.
Police chief, Gen.Listyo Sigit Prabowo, recently lauded the performance of the Nemangkawi Task Force in arresting and securing perpetrators of violence.
"I appreciate all the task force's personnel," he said, while urging them to stay alert, given the armed groups' propaganda against the special autonomy bill.
Amid a spate of violence in Papua, the national police chief recently approved the appointment of Papua police chief as the Nemangkawi Task Force's commandant.
ANTARA has reported earlier that Papua's security and public order situation has mostly remained normal.
Security disturbances, however, have been reported sporadically from several areas where armed Papuan groups operate, such as Intan Jaya district.
According to reports, several armed Papuan groups operate around Intan Jaya, including the one led by Sabinus Waker.
Armed groups in the district have repeatedly engaged in gunfights with security personnel. They have also gone on a shooting rampage targeting innocent civilians.
ANTARA had reported the launch of a security operation, "Operation Nemangkawi”, in 2019 following the massacre of 31 workers from PT Istaka Karya in Kali Yigi and Kali Aurak in Yigi sub-district, Nduga district, on December 2, 2018.
Armed Papuan rebels, who were reportedly behind the brutal killings of the Trans Papua construction workers, also killed a soldier, identified as Handoko, and injured two other security personnel, Sugeng and Wahyu.
Papua has been witness to a repeated cycle of violence, with armed groups in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak targeting civilians and security personnel over the past two years. (INE)
Related news: Papua police chief to lead Nemangkawi task force
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
